Embrace The Truth.

Cognitive bias is this interesting feature of human psychology where we have a tendency to look for information that supports/confirms what we already believe.  This is a big reason why I advocate the idea that everyone has a story.  When I use the word story I mean facts tied together through assumptions into a coherent narrative about how the world works.  It’s the assumptions part that can be heavily influenced by cognitive bias.  I advocate that we develop the humility to recognize that at any given point in life our assumptions/beliefs could be wrong.  Equally important, I advocate that we develop the courage to look at the flaws in our assumptions/beliefs and do the work to develop new beliefs.  

Have you or someone you’ve known ever been cheated on by a spouse?  Or suddenly let go by a long time employer?  Or lost a bunch of money in a business endeavor that was supposed to be a sure thing?  In situations like these we can be thrown into an existential tailspin.  This is where something happens that is totally out of alignment with our understanding of the world.  It’s where our reality is going completely opposite of our expectations.  It’s where the people in our lives are behaving completely out of character.  It’s where we lose faith in people and institutions that let us down.  

The challenge with cognitive bias is the fact that sometimes the signs are there.  Sometimes we can tell that our significant other is disconnecting from us.  Sometimes we can tell that our employer is struggling and we could be on the chopping block.  Maybe we knew that business wasn’t a solid idea when we invested… But we wanted so badly to believe the narrative that we already had.  We didn’t want to have to do any work on our understanding of the world.  We didn’t want to be wrong.  So we ignored signs and, doing so, almost drove us crazy.